Predator314's Poker Journal

I played a decent amount of poker yesterday and today. Overall, I got almost 2000 hands in. All of them at $2/4 6 max. I could have just not played and been in the same place. I started out by losing about 50BBs in the first 800 hands, then I won them all back in the next 200. Then lost another 50BBs, then won them all back again. Break even poker. Good enough for January I guess.

I feel like I should just be racking up. However, I'm still getting rivered right and left. I'm also flopping 2 pairs against sets and shit like that. It's killing me right now. I was dealt Aces 8 times today. I'm getting some good starting hands and they do really well on the flop and/or turn. I can't complain though, I'm playing better and better every day. I've been just a bit gunshy, but I'm starting to get those ever important extra value bets in there on my winning hands.

And to those of you that say that the games are drying up. Well, I got one word for you......HAHAHHAHAHHA. I've seen so much donk action today. The games are good.

Here was my highlight hand of the day. I missed 2 small bets by just calling in the big blind, but it's something I sometimes do to disguise my hand. I also hate AJ, but this one worked out:

PokerStars 2/4 Hold'em (6 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is BB with Ac, Js.

3 folds, Button calls, SB raises, Hero calls, Button calls.

Flop: (6 SB) Jh, Kh, Ad (3 players)

SB checks, Hero bets, Button calls, SB calls.

Turn: (4.50 BB) Ah (3 players)

SB checks, Hero bets, Button raises, SB calls, Hero 3-bets, Button caps, SB calls, Hero calls.

River: (16.50 BB) 4h (3 players)

SB checks, Hero bets, Button calls, SB folds.

Final Pot: 18.50 BB

Results in white below:

Hero has Ac Js (full house, aces full of jacks).

Button has 2h 7h (flush, ace high).

Outcome: Hero wins 18.50 BB.

Well, life dealt me a bad beat on Monday. I came home and could hear water rushing. Bad news. A supply line to my washer busted and made a mess. So now I have to replace part of my bedroom floor and part of the laundry room floor. It's just been that kind of month for me.

On a good note, I actually won at poker today. I was way up, then way down, then ended up 25BBs. Here's the hand of the day:

PokerStars 2/4 Hold'em (6 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ad, 6d.

3 folds, Button raises, Hero 3-bets, BB calls, Button calls.

Flop: (9 SB) Js, Qd, 3d (3 players)

Hero bets, BB raises, Button folds, Hero 3-bets, BB calls.

Turn: (7.50 BB) 9d (2 players)

Hero bets, BB raises, Hero 3-bets, BB caps, Hero calls.

River: (15.50 BB) Tc (2 players)

Hero bets, BB raises, Hero 3-bets, BB calls.

Final Pot: 21.50 BB

Results in white below:

Hero has Ad 6d (flush, ace high).

BB has Th Ks (straight, king high).

Outcome: Hero wins 21.50 BB.

It has been too long since I had one of those.

Everywhere I go people annoy the shit out of me. It always seems like everyone is looking out for #1 and piss on the rest of the world. It's all about me me me. Did I miss the memo that says you have to be an asshole these days?

The majority of the annoying people I see are on the road. I spend a lot of time driving. I have about a 90-100 mile per day round trip commute with my job. I also travel a bit due to my job. So many drivers are certified pricks out there. I'm usually filled with road rage on a daily basis. The ones that really get on my nerves are the assholes that can't decide whether they want to drive 90mph or 50mph. They are usually on a cell phone paying no attention to the world outside their vehicle. I'm a cruise control guy. I set my cruise on 75mph. So I'm going a constant rate of speed regardless of whether it's uphill or downhill.

The other drivers that I wish I had a license to kill are the ones that think just because the sign says "Right lane closed 500 feet" means they got another 499.999 feet to pass cars. Because heaven forbid they lose those precious 3 seconds stuck behind us lowly safe drivers.

I could go on and on about drivers being dick heads, but you've all been there. Just heed my advice, use your cruise control on the interstate. If you want to haul ass down the road, go ahead, but for the love of God, be consistent! If you're going to drive slow, keep your ass in the right hand lane. The left lane is for passing, not for getting in my fucking way.

Another place that people get on my nerves is the shopping centers. Now, that I'm bacheloring it up on my own, I go grocery shopping about once every week or 2. My frequency has died down lately because of my hatred for putting up with the hassle of shopping. Old ladies are the worst. They have to look through every carton of milk to find the one with the ultimate expiration date, therefore making you wait. Keep your nasty paws off my milk please.

Another group of shoppers that annoy me are the people that decide to congregate in the middle of an aisle and discuss the fuckin' weather, politics, or the old chick with the nice ass bent over checking all the milk expiration dates. It gets horrible around Christmas time. If you're gonna chit chat, at least move to an open part of the store. Get out of my damn way.

I can't remember the last time I went 24 hours without another person irritating the shit out of me. This list is endless:

o The chick at the drive-thru that decides she's going to order $60 worth of food (usually buying lunch for the office)

o The people at the bowling alley that go outside to smoke and stand directly in the doorway so everyone has to walk around them

o The high maintenance customer that feels for whatever reason that they are more special than the rest even though they paid the same amount of money as another customer which never calls.

o Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd

o The whiney brat at the poker table who is so superb at poker that this was the first bad beat he's had in his life

o The 14 year old girls at the mall that dress like hookers and smoke just to be cool (at least inhale)

o Telemarketers and spammers

o The nosey neighbors

o The cocksuckers at the restaraunts who can't go 30 minutes without talking on the cell phone

o TV Journalists that pretend like they care (i.e. Katie Kourek and Matt Louer...sp?)

o The people that will hold up traffic and wait for 5 minutes for the other car to pull out of the parking spot, just so they don't have to walk that extra 20 feet.

o The COCKSUCKING MOTHERFUCKING SUPPOSED MILLIONAIRE THAT OWES ME $425, but calls me wanting to sell me a cell phone. People close to me know who I'm talking about. Fuck you!

If I sit here and think about it, I could probably make a list a mile long of people that irritate me. It's a shame too. I'm not sure if I'm just getting old or what, but it seems to get worse every year. Everyone is all caught up in themselves. I try to take at least a few minutes out of my day to think about others. It's a good habit to get into. Also, have respect for other people. You'll find, you get treated better by those same people in the long run. When you go into a public place, turn off your cell phone. If someone says "Excuse me", take the hint and get the fuck out of the way. For long time assholes that want to convert to being good folk, follow these tips and you'll be ok. 1.) Take at least 1 shower every day and brush your teeth, 2.) Learn the terms "Excuse Me", "Please", and "Thank you". That's it. The world would be 10 times better if everyone would follow those 2 simple rules.

It's getting so bad, in fact, that I just avoid places where I have to interact with other people. Some may think I'm a social misfit or something like that. This isn't true. I have plenty of good friends and most of them feel the same way I do. Those who don't, still respect my opinion and I respect theirs. This is how the world should be folks. Slow down, yet move at a steady pace.

Just some insight into my brain.

VARIANCE IS HIGH.... I REPEAT... VARIANCE IS HIGH.

or

I just suck at poker. Played 541 hands today for a loss of $64. I was winning big early in the session. Everything was hitting for me and I thought this was going to be the day. However, about mid-way through the session, Lee Jones stuck it in my cornhole and pushed the doom button on me.

I've been using Poker Tracker to find out where I'm leaking money during this worst losing streak of my life (well over 300BBs at this point). It looks like my biggest losses are coming from beats that I'm taking where I have the villian dominated. My AK hands are losing to KJ, AQ losing to KQ and things like that. So that's good news. There are some other things I need to clear up, but everything looks mostly kosher as far as the way I'm playing. I feel good about my game and my spirits are still high. Unfortunately, the bankroll isn't. Such is life in the short-handed world though.

I've achieved my Silver Star status in the VIP club on Stars, but for some reason, I was thinking the iPod Nano was only 8000 FPPs. I went to buy it and noticed that it was 16,000 FPPs. I'm not sure if it changed from the first time I looked or if I'm just and idiot. Probably the latter. So I still got a ways to go for that.

I also think I'm going to start playing some more full table poker. Maybe a change in the games will spark the poker gods to shine on me for a while. I'll probably go to Party for the full table games.

Some interesting stats from 12/1 through today:

The following long term winning hands for me are losing money during this horrendous streak: AK suited, AQ offsuit, AT suited, QQ, JJ, TT, 88, 77 (big time), and 66. However, over the last 100,000 hands here are the stats for the same starting hands:

AK suited: +0.74 BB/Hand
AQ off: +0.39 BB/Hand
AT suited: +0.43 BB/Hand
QQ: +1.24 BB/Hand
JJ: +1.22 BB/Hand
TT: +0.87 BB/Hand
88: +0.50 BB/Hand
77: +0.12 BB/Hand
66: +0.20 BB/Hand

The above numbers include hands during my losing streak. I couldn't figure out how to get the 100,000 prior to the beginning of the downswing.

Another stat: Over the last 100,000 hands, suited connectors are a net winner for me (+0.12 BB/Hand). During the downswing they are actually still winning (+0.07 BB/Hand) which is surprising to me.

I would really like to know how my numbers stand compared to the others that read this blog and have poker tracker. I would post the numbers on 2+2, but that would be like comparing apples to oranges. Most 2+2'ers play a different style than me. I'm about 5-10% looser on my VP$IP than the average 2+2'er. My VP$IP hangs around 29% and my PF Raise is around 18.5%. The average 2+2'er stays around 21-24% in short handed games, which I think can surely be winning, but not optimal. I rely on position and aggression to win money. I try to squeeze as many bets as I can when I have a winning hand. From reading the Short handed forums on 2+2, they seem to be too quick to go into call-down mode.

Also, I'm talking about the typical 2+2'er. There are a select few posters in the group that play more loose and more aggressive, and make good reads all at the same time. Their bankrolls show it too. These are the guys that I like to read. However, they spend too much time in the OOT forum and not enough time giving me some insight into their games ;)

Lastly, I really need a faster computer. My laptop is fairly fast, but Poker Tracker brings it to its knees. Especially when using the Filters feature using all my recorded hands. I tried installing the Postgresql to convert to that, but something keeps going wrong in the conversion. There's a problem with my database and it takes MS Access to fix it. I don't have Access, but I think we have one somewhere at work. I just need to find it.